Separate egg yolks and place them into a bowl. Place a saucepan on the stove and add 2 cups of heavy cream on low/mid heat.

divide your sugar in half (2 small bowls, each with 1.5 ounces of sugar. If you have a scale, weigh it) Pour one bowl of sugar into the heavy cream and the other into the egg yolks. Mix each with with separate whisks. (Egg yolks should be mixed well, but not overbeaten).

Add a pinch of salt to the heavy cream mixture on heat and then split your vanilla bean and scrape into the heavy cream. Drop the bean into the cream to ensure that nothing is wasted (It will be strained out later).

Stir the heavy cream mixture on heat until it is moderately hot. (When it is uncomfortable to touch).

As soon as cream reaches that point, remove from head, pour into the egg yolk and sugar mixture, and blend well.

As soon as these two are mixed, strain your mixture with a fine wire strainer into a pitcher, this will remove all of the large pieces of the vanilla bean that are not wanted.

Fill a pan that is at least 3 inches deep about half way with water and place the ramekins into the water (water should NOT get into the ramekins.).

Pour your mixture from the pitcher into the ramekins as evenly as possible until you run out.

Carefully place pan onto the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30+ minutes (Time sometimes varies, Around the 30 minute mark, check them by softly disturbing the pan so that it gently shakes. Should shake with similar consistency to jello).

Remove from the oven and CAREFULLY place directly into the fridge for approximately 3 hours (DO NOT REMOVE THE WATER FROM THE PAN).

Remove the pan from the fridge after 3+ hours and spread a fairly thin layer of sugar over the top of each ramekin.

Fire up your torch and carefully burn the sugar on the top of each ramekin. (I always try to avoid the sugar from smoking and turning black, which tastes bitter. I usually will do half of one, stop and work on another, and then finish the first one.).

As soon as all of the sugar has been "melted" on all of the ramekins, place pan back into the fridge and give them about 30-45 minutes to cool and solidify (It doesn't take that long for the solidification of the sugar, but usually after doing this, the custard is slightly warm, so I always like to have them cooled off).